Hi,
I’m working on renovating a 1910 victorian and am trying to decide the best way to repair small cracks in a textured ceiling located in a hallway. The cracks themselves are fairly narrow (no wider than 1/16″), but the concern I have is that it appears the final coat of plaster (the one that contains the texture) seems to have pulled away from the surface below it near these cracks. One possible solution I thought of was somehow injecting some kind of glue in the cracks (via needle?) to secure the texture and then try filling the crack with spackle, roughed up to look like the rest of the texturing. Although I’m not sure this is the cause of the cracking, the main source of heat for this hallway (steam radiator) has been removed during the renovation (it’s been like this for two years now) so I wonder whether the cracks and the pulling away from the substate could be due to the temperature and humidity changes the hall has seen from summer to winter? (the house is near Boston, the hall temperature is probably mid 50’s in the winter with very low humidity). Although neither the homeowner nor I are thrilled with the look of the texture on the ceiling, it is in pretty good shape so would rather not have to rip it down or remove much of the texture since I think it would be tough to match.
Any thought?
TIA,
Ron Rappel
Replies
Texture is hard to do repair on, almost impossible to make it invisible. May be you can call in somebody who specializes in texture repair.
Do the cracks appear in any patten at all or just random? If you press on the edges of the cracks and if they don't feel too springy you can use the glue injection method to stabilize the edges. Why not go for a smooth ceiling, tape the cracks and skim.
Hi Tom,
To answer your questions, I think the cracks may be due to (or at least made worse by) the fact that the hallway is seeing major changes in humidity and temperature from summer to winter. There are a few smaller cracks going from one side of the hallway to the other, possibly located where the joists cross. The main crack (again, no more than 1/16" wide) is where the hallway turns 90 degrees and runs from the inside corner to the outside corner.
The part of the ceiling next to the crack can be pushed up about 1/16". I don't think it's getting worse; I'm figuring stabilizing it with glue should secure it well enough.
As far as taping and skim coating goes, if the ceiling was in worse shape, I would probably go with that.
Thanks,
Ron
Kind of off the wall, but if it ia sound..no loose plaster hanging off, and ya want to kkep the tex/ look...get a tub of lightweight spackle it is fluffy and white like thick cool whip...go to a veternarian and ask for a LARGE syringe (no Needle) and load it with the spackle..the tip is about 3/32 or so wide ...caulk it in..works good
That's a great idea Sphere; I've never seen a syringe like what you're describing, but it sound's like a nice way to put the spackle into the crack with a texture. One question; would you try putting some glue in there to make sure the texture coat is stable before the spackle?
Thanks,
Ron
Thats a judgement call only you can make, if you decide that glue is needed just use elmers white glue (injected with the same set up) and to clamp it use a thin prop from the floor with a small plywood plate on top to cover the glued area..put foil or saran wrap on the plate so's ya dont glue it to the cieling..oh yeah, do not let the lightweight spackle harden in the syringe..cap it witha wirenut, between uses. To store it for a longer time keep it in the freezer.